Railroad-tie



'2. v. KUCHAN.

RAILROAD TIE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 26, 1919.

Patented Oct. 14, 1919.

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Z.'Vi.fuchaf2..

2. 'v. KUCHAN.

Patented Oct. 14,1919.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3 RAILROAD-TIE.

To all whom it mag concern:

Be'it known that I, ZANoN V. KUGHAN,

a citizen of the United States, residing at Aberdeen,- in the county of Grays Harbor road-Ties; and Ido' hereby declare the foland State of Washin n, have invented certain new and useful mprovements in Raillowing to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertalns to make and use the same.-

This invention relates to railroad ties and wooden tie, and thereby dispense with the inconveniences usually associated therewith.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved steel railroad tie,- having means whereby the rails can be attached thereto, without the use of spikes or other fastening elements.

A further object of the invention is to construct an improved steel railroad tie for receiving the terminals of a pair of rail sections and locking the same against movement in relation to each other and to the tie. A further object of the invention is to provide an' improved railroad tie of comparatively light weight, so that the same can be readlly handled and transported, without weakening-the same.

A still further object of the invention is to provide an improved device of the above character, which is durable and efficient in use, one that is simple and easy to manufacture, and one that can be placed upon the market at a reasonable cos With these and other objects in view, the invention consists in the novel construction, arrangement and formation of parts, as-will be hereinafter more specifically described, claimed and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, forming a part thereof, in which:

Figure 1 is a plan view of a portion of a railroad track constructed in accordance with myinvention,

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of one of the ties,

3 is a longitudinal section taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1,

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Oct. 14, 1919, Application filed March 26, 1919. Serial No. 285,212. I Y Y UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

Fig. 4 is a, horizontal longitudinal section I 2 taken on the line 4-4 of Flg. 3,

Fig. 5 is a longitudinal section taken on the line 55 of Fig. 1,

Fi 6 is a detall cross section taken on the line 66 of'Fig. 1,

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of one of the locking wedges,

Fig. 8 is a perspective view of the locking bar, and

Fig. 9 is a detail perspective view of one end of the rail.

Fig. 10 is a detail perspective view of one of the ties positioned intermediate'the meetingqterminals of the rails.

' eferring to the. drawings in detail, wherein similar reference characters designate corresponding parts throughout the several views, thenumeral 1 generally indi cates a railroad track'includin rails 3. The ties 2 are form from steel ties 2 and i or the like andeachincludes a hollow body 4 having an upper wall 5, a bottom wall 6, and side walls 7. -The .side walls are cut away intermediate the ends thereof and theupper wall 5 has its side edges out inwardly as at 9 at the cutout portion of the side walls. The bottom wall .6 is likewise prohandled. The upper wall 5 ofeach tie is formed relatively thicker, as at 11, at each 1 end thereof for receiving'the rails .3 and vertical 'and' diagonal. braces are arranged under the thickened portion and formadditional means for supporting the rails.

Eachthickened portion of the ties isiprovided with transversely extending grooves 13 having one wall thereof undercut as at 14 to conform to the configuration of the base flange of the rail 3, for receiving the same, when the rails are placed in position. The lower wall 15 of the groove is formed comparatively flat, so as to form a seat-for the base of the rail 3. A second groove 16 extends transversely of each thickened portion 11 of the ties opposite to the undercut portion 14 and extends below the lower wall 15 of the groove. The side wall 17 o'f the groove 16 opposite to the undercut portion- 14 is also undercut, as clearly shown in the j drawings, and the same forms a retaining shoulder 18 for the wedge members 19, The wall 17, as shown, is inclined from one end toward the other end to conform to the configuration of the wedge members 19.

Each of the wedge members 19- includes a base 20 having a flange 21 formed at one longitudinal edge thereof for engaging the base'flange of the rail opposite to the wall 14 and the same has the lower surface 22 thereof inclined to conform tothe configuration thereof. The opposite edge is inclined from one end to the other, as shown at 23, so that when the same is driven into the groove 16 the same willhave a wedging effect and can only be removed from or mserted in one end of the groove. The upper surface of the wedge 19 has the longitudinal edge thereof opposite to the flange 21 cut away, as at 2 1, so that the same can readily fit into the cutout portion of the wall 17'. The base 20 is adapted to engage the side walls of the groove 16 and the flange 21 thereof is adapted to overlie the base 15 of the groove 13, so as to cooperate with the undercut portion of the wall 14.- to engage the base flanges of the rail and retain the same in position against displacement.

It can be seen that the rail 3-is first placed in the roove 13 with one of the base flanges thereof positioned in the undercut portion of the wall 14; and the wedge member 19 is then driven into place and the flange '21 thereof engages the opposite base flange of the rail and holds the same against displacement. A key 25 is provided for look ing the wedge members 19 in place against accidental movement with relation to the tie and rails which is adapted to fit into alined grooves 26 and 27 formed in the upper edge of the tie'and wedge members respectively. The side walls of the groove 26 are provided with undercut portions 28, for a purpose whichwill hereinafter more fully appear. A groove 29 extends transversely of the groove 26 and communicates therewith and the under cut portions of the wall 28, for a purpose which will hereinafter more fully appear. The key 25 includes a substantially rectangular bodv, having outstanding lugs or ears 31 formed on the side edges thereof at one end thereof and the opposite end is provided with an upstanding lug 32, whichforms a handle for the key, whereby the same may be readily grasped.

When the wedges 19 are placed in position and the grooves 26 and 27 aline, the key 25 is operated so as to force the ears 31 in the transverse slot 29 and the key is then pushed so as to slide the ears 31 in the cutout portions of the walls 28 of the slot 26 and when the same have reached the end walls thereof the key is then thrown down} wardlyso as to lie in the slot 27, which looks the wedges in position and effectually holds the same against displacement.

As clearly shown in the drawings, one of the wedges engages the outer side of the rail while the opposite wedge engages the inner side of the opposite rail.

Certain of the ties designated by the numeral 35 are arrange'dto receive the terminals of the rails 3 and to form a joint for the same, so as to prevent displacement thereof. These ties 35 are constructed exactly as the ties 2, with the exception that the walls 16 of the groove 13, which forms a rest for the bases of the rails, are provided with pairs of spaced upstanding lugs 36, which are adapted to fit in notches 37 formed in the side edges of the terminals of the rails, which eflectively hold the rail sections against longitudinal movement in relation to the tie.

From the foregoing description it can be seen that an improved metallic tie is provided, which efl'ectively holds the rails in position and also forms joints for the same, without the use of spikes or nuts and bolts.

In practice, I have found that the form of my invention illustrated in the accompanying drawings and referred to in the above description, as the preferred embodiment, is'the most eficient and practical; yet realizing the conditions concurrent with the adoption of my device will necessarily vary, I desire toemphasize that various minor changes in details of construction, proportion and arrangement of parts may be resorted to, when required, without sacrificing any of the advantages of my invention as set forth.

What I claim as new is:

1. A metallic railroad tie having rail seats formed therein, said tie having grooves formed therein adjacent .to said rail seats,

sliding wedges fitted in said grooves, said wedges having flanges formed thereon and arranged to engage the base flanges of the rail, and a locking key slidably and pivotally carried by the tie and adapted to engage each wedge, as and for the purpose specified.

v v 2. A metallic railroad tie having rail seats formed in the upper side thereof, grooves formed in the upper basis of the tie adjacent tioned in said seat, slots formedin the tie side walls thereof and 'arranged to engage 10 Y and wedges and arranged to aline with each the grooves formed in the side walls'of the other when the wedges are in operative posislots formed in the ties. 7 tion, the slots in the ties having the s1de- In testimony whereof I afiix my signature walls thereof provided with grooves, and a in presence of two Witnesses.

key arranged to slida'bly fit in the slots-in ZANON V. KUCHAN. the tie and fit in the slot in the wedge to Witnesses: hold the same against displacement, said ANDREW G DA'z,

key having outstanding ears formed on the JOHN RONOLI'QH. 

